#Aural Films

[trevlad-sounds]

Invisible Waves 26.

30.06.2024

Intro 00:00 lofield-suspended in silence 00:12 Chapter 1 04:37 Dark Fidelity Hi Fi-Outcodes 08:16 Anantakara-Wildlife Secret Message 10:24 Chapter 2 18:57 Beefus B-It’s a Matter of Time and Space 22:04 Lone Bison-Talk About It 27:23 Chapter 3 31:23 Mike Dickinson-The Absolute 34:14 The Metamorph-The Maypole Dance 40:19 Chapter 4 44:23 Shinichiroa-Afternoon 47:40

[infinityof6]

I have a track on this year’s Hallowe’en comp from Aural Films. It’s called If You Think I'm Dead You're Wrong (I'm Alive And Living In Scotland).

“Happy Halloween! Aural Films has a special treat for everyone with our annual collection of horror soundtracks from around the globe. Recoil in fear to over 40 horrifying compositions to fill your world with eerie sounds. Listen now to more than 5 hours of haunted tracks, if you dare!”

All proceeds from this project will be donated to planting trees with the Billion Trees Project. Your purchase of this album directly supports and revitalizes the planet, with all proceeds donated to The Plant a Billion Trees campaign, an unprecedented restoration initiative launched by The Nature Conservancy in 2008. Our first project was to restore Brazil's Atlantic Forest, and now we have expanded to include forest projects in the United States and China. By planting trees and helping forests regrow where they have been severely degraded, we're helping to ensure clean water, air, diverse species and full, healthy forests for future generations. Read more about the project at www.plantabillion.org

Get the full album here: Horror Films 2023

[burlveneer-music]

VA - Horror Films 2024 - huge collection of spooky music from Aural Films for just $3, which benefits the Plant a Billion Trees project

Happy Halloween! Aural Films has a special treat for everyone with our annual collection of horror soundtracks from around the globe. Get lost in the woods to 51 horrifying compositions that fill your world with eerie sounds. Listen now to more than 5 hours of haunted tracks, if you dare! THIS MUSIC PLANTS TREES! All proceeds from this project will be donated to planting trees with the Billion Trees Project. Your purchase of this album directly supports and revitalizes the planet, with all proceeds donated to The Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees project. All rights reserved by their respective artists. Click on each track for more information about them. The Plant a Billion Trees project is an unprecedented restoration initiative launched by The Nature Conservancy in 2008. By planting trees and helping forests regrow where they have been severely degraded, we're helping to ensure clean water, air, diverse species and full, healthy forests for future generations. Read more about the project at www.plantabillion.org Aural Films is an online record label that releases high-quality soundtrack albums for movies that do not exist. We cover a wide range of music styles ranging from ambient to experimental to popular to soundtrack musics. Often on the same albums. You can find our complete catalog of releases online at AuralFilms.com Aural Films Catalog No. AF0434

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

The thing about Ikea Detectives is... would Ryan W. Garcia and Dan Strauss solving crime by talking to Ikea furniture make for a good television show? Objectively not; no cast could save a premise that terrible. Would I watch seven whole seasons of it anyway?

Abso-fucking-lutely.

[rustytrident]

the brothers in bed hcs (18+)

spoiler none of them are doms

ch: lucifer, mammon, leviathan, satan, asmodeus, beelzebub, belphegor

cw: 18+ mdni!! mentions of praise, degradation, hard kinks, pet play, overstimulation, edging, toys, feminisation, pain, objectification, mirror sex, filming, pegging, sensory deprivation, mutual masturbation, punshiments, mind break, somnophilia

a/n: is this gonna be biased cause i like sub men? probably. am i still right? definitely.

lucifer:

a sub. but like what were you expecting.

really likes praise, to the point where you can see his eyes shine whenever you praise him

one of the most obedient of the bunch, he just really likes being told he's being good for you :((

i can see him being into really hard kinks cause he just wants to plummet into sub space and forget he exists for a bit

can honestly be very teasing and sarcastic with you at times, but only when he has the energy for it.

likes: hard kinks, praise, restraints

dislikes: degradation, spit, quickies

mammon:

switch but mostly subs

he teases the fuck out of u as a dom. like will not give you what you want until you beg and beg and beg

wants to get absolutely destroyed when subbing though. like sometimes he'll just be mean to u so u can use him

puppyboy. i think he'd like a pretty collar but u didn't hear that from me

not too big on being degraded, but it can really turn him on if u mostly praise him and throw a bit of degrading in

likes: free use, pet play, overstimulation

dislikes: monotony, company, blindfolds

levi:

also a switch but the dom side comes out once in a blue moon

likes praise and degradation equally, but be careful not to favor one over the other

toys toys toys!! he has sooo many and loves to have them used on himself, especially likes ones that vibrate

really likes feminisation!! put him in little skirts and lacy underwear and he's already gone like :((((

not the biggest fan of pain (he hates it)

likes: humiliation, feminisation, toys

dislikes: pain, imbalance, mirrors

satan:

100% switch. likes to keep it fresh

the sweetest dom ever. he has read too much erotica to know exactly what to say

catboy!! cliche but come on. don't tell me that he secretly hasn't been crafting the perfect fursona design for centuries

hates being degraded the most. only be nice to him, he can't handle it

i can see him being into pain tbh, but only some times (he'll tell u dw)

likes: petplay, praise, dacryphilia

dislikes: restraints, degradation, objectification

asmo:

is he a switch? naturally. does he enjoy being a sub the most? absolutely.

has a thing about ruining your or his makeup. just. smear his lipstick, make him smudge his eyeliner, yknow how it is

mirrors!! and filming!! he's the biggest star he wants the world to see!!

very open to people joining, but mostly he enjoys the intimacy of being with you

edge him. i think it does things to him idk.

likes: being filmed, mirror sex, edging

dislikes: :/

beel:

subsubsubsubsubsubsub

he's just there to please. use him however u like, he really doesn't mind

auralism?? in this household?? more likely than u think.

wants to touch u at all times. so so soft in how he handles u god i need him :(((

likes being pegged. there's something about feeling full that does it for him yknow?

likes: pegging, slow sex, your voice

dislikes: hard kinks, sensory deprivation, mutual masturbation

belphie:

look me in the eyes and tell me. tell me what u think (he's a switch but who likes domming when u can just let. go.)

very much into mind break. like make him black out make him forget where what who and when

somno. predictable, yes, but like. he was made for this, no one can change my mind

pillow prince!! doesn't care what u call him, just make him feel all important and giddy

a brat.

likes: somno, edging and overstim, being bratty

dislikes: being on top, gentle doms, company (unless it's beel)

[all-about-kyu]

Summary: Both being in the NSFW content creation sphere, you and Yunho find a mutually beneficial piece of content to film. Pairing: NSFW Audio Creator!Yunho x Only Fans Creator!reader Tropes: Adult Content creator au, friends with benefits au Genre: smut Rating: R 18+ Warnings: language, the reader is smaller than Yunho by a good amount Smut Warnings: recorded sex, blindfolding, auralism, protected sex, implications of a hand kink, use of the name “daddy”, pet names, nipple play, clitoral stimulation, ripping clothing Word Count: 2,416 Host Tag: @sanjoongie @thelargefrye February Filth Masterlist Before You Interact

Listen to ♡ Often by The Weekend

“You’re sure you’re not going to get kidnapped?” Yeri checks for the tenth time.

“I’m sure!” You laugh, “This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve talked with him before, too, several times. You know Yunho and I are friends.”

Yeri’s jaw falls to the floor. You meet her eyes through your mirror after you finish fixing your makeup. You look at her as if you’ve just said the most mundane sentence in the world. On the other hand, she looks as if you just told her you’re not actually who you told her you are.

“You mean to tell me–”

“I haven’t fucked him. Not in the literal sense, at least.” You explain, “We’ve fucked around in DMs before a few times but nothing in person yet. We’re genuinely friends, too, it’s not just about our jobs. He’s seen me. I’ve seen him. We’re both being safe. Now go back to your own apartment unless you want to witness something you probably don’t want to.”

She shakes her head and scrunches her nose. You laugh at her action and start walking her toward your front door. You start to pull your door open to let her out when she starts to sound like a broken record.

“Seriously, if you think he might–”

She’s cut off by someone clearing their throat. She turns around, and you look up. He’s right in the doorway, looking devastatingly handsome. Yeri buttons her lip and slips past him. You bid her goodbye as she’s already halfway to the elevator.

“Come on in.” You smile at the tall man, moving to let him in.

“It’s nice to see you in person finally.” He smiles

You nod, mouth suddenly dry, “I hope it wasn’t too bad of a trip here.”

“No,” he shakes his head, “It was actually really nice. It’s beautiful out.”

You’ve been friends online for a while now, and this sudden awkward tension is almost suffocating. Yunho smiles at you and takes your hand in his. You look at your connected hands before looking back up to his face. You’ve seen him before in pictures you exchanged in the past. Some of them are more distracting than others. Seeing him in person seems to create a whole new level of devastation for your panties and your heart at the same time.

He drops your hand and leans against a bookshelf at the edge of your entryway. He’s nearly the same height as it. You need a stool to reach the top shelf of it. Now you take in just how tall he is. You knew he was tall. Knowing a fact versus seeing it is so different. You already know his cock is big too. You’ve been blessed to see it several times. Your mind starts to wander to your activities planned for the afternoon.

“You okay?” Yunho’s eyes fill with concern, “If you don’t want to do anything, we don’t have to. We can just hang out.”

“No, no,” you chuckle, “I just forgot how… big you are…” You admit.

Yunho smirks as he leans over you while leaning against the bookshelves. You gulp at the sight.

“Did you, sweetheart?”

Fuck.

Your mouth goes dry again, trying to find a proper response. You knew damn well what the plan was walking into today. Both of you had planned out the entire scene in depth to ensure safety and quality content for your followers. Hearing his voice, seeing that stupidly hot smirk, everything about him renders you speechless.

“Sweetheart?” He calls again, “You still with me?”

You nod, “Just… thinking…”

“About?” He leans in close enough that you can feel his breath against your lips.

“We have a bit of content to film, and–” You stop yourself and stare at his lips for a moment.

“And?” He questions.

Your gaze stays fixated on his lips, “And… I fucking need you right now.”

Yunho doesn’t waste a moment closing the gap between you. The way he pulls you tight against him, combined with the heat of the kiss, makes your knees buckle. You stand there for a while, just kissing him. Your neck hurts a bit from stretching up to reach him, though you’re sure he is hurting more from craning down. By the time you pull away, your lips are puffy and wet with spit. His aren’t in much better condition; he has a bit of your lipgloss smeared near his own lips.

“Is your camera all set up?” He asks, his voice slightly raspier than earlier.

“Mm,” you hum, “You’re okay with your face being on camera?”

“We already talked about that.” He reminds you, “It’s okay. My face isn’t fully a secret to my audience.”

You take his hand in yours again and guide him toward your room. As you had told him before, your camera is already set up in front of your bed. You reach over and press record before you even say another word to him. As much as you’d love to get wrecked by him now, you know the goal is to get content. Your high-quality microphone is already connected and tested to ensure it gets the best recording it can. After all, it’s not just being uploaded to your Only Fans. The audio from today is being edited and uploaded to Yunho’s NSFW audio subscription as well. Short free clips are going to be posted on both of your Twitter accounts in addition to helping with the traction. Before you get in the view of the camera, you slip your shorts off from under your oversized T-shirt. Per the agreed-upon scene, you’re playing the role of his pretty little stay-at-home girlfriend and won’t be needing pants if you’re at home all day.

“You ready, princess?”

You know he’s put on his acting, but he still searches for any uncertainty in your eyes.

“I’m ready, Daddy.” you respond, voice sweet and needy.

Despite neither of you truly having a daddy kink, you both agreed to that title for Yunho to both protect his identity and play into the content you both know people want. You sit on the side of your bed and look up at him with wide, faux-innocent eyes. Yunho hums and leans down to cage you against the bed. One hand slips back a bit to grab a silk tie just behind you. He pulls it off of the bed and leans back a bit to hold it between you.

“We’re gonna play a little game, okay?”

You nod, “Will I get to feel you?”

“Oh, sweetheart, you’ll feel me. You just won’t see a damn thing.”

Yunho leans forward again and kisses you sloppily. The wet sounds of your kiss are enough to make you rub your thighs together. He, of course, notices it and grips your thigh with his other hand. Massaging the flesh, he pushes your oversized shirt up to expose your soaked panties. He guides you back further until you’re nearly laid down. He drops the tie just long enough to pull the shirt off of your body. You’re only left in your panties while he’s fully clothed. That doesn’t last long, though. He pulls his own shirt off. You appreciate his toned body and end up fixated on the noticeable bulge under his sweats. You gulp before meeting his eyes again.

“Can’t I suck you off for a bit? I wanna be a good girl for you.”

Yunho gives you an endearing smile, holding your chin in his hand, “That’s so sweet of you, baby. As much as Daddy would love that, I have other plans for us today. I’m gonna blindfold you now, okay? You know our cues.”

“Colors, if I can speak. If not, two taps for a break and three for a full stop.”

He kisses you again, “That’s my girl.”

It’s for the camera, you know that. Still, it doesn’t stop you from nearly melting at the praise. He takes the black silk tie and carefully secures it around your head, checking to make sure it’s not too loose or tight. You feel him guide you to lie down on your bed and push your thighs apart to be flat across the bed as well. Every sound sounds so vivid. The soft sound of his hands moving across the bedding, the gentle sounds of his breath by your ear, even the light creaking of your bed as he puts his full body weight on it. A gasp escapes your lips as he leaves more wet kisses along your throat. The noises he makes as he kisses you while letting his hands wander are enough to make your panties even more soaked than they previously were.

“You’re so jumpy, baby.” He chuckles, “Relax, let me make you feel good.”

“Daddy,” you whine, bucking your hips when his hand trails along your inner thigh.

“Yes, princess?”

You gasp when his kisses reach your chest, “Need–” 

You let out a broken whine when he wraps his lips around one of your nipples. His fingers lightly trail up and down your thighs, intentionally skipping over the place you need him most. Each time you buck your hips toward his touch, he lightly nips at your chest. The lack of vision only heightens your other senses more. Each time he so much as grazes your body, you jolt in reaction. Each word he says and each noise he makes sends you into another plane of existence.

You feel his body pull away from you, leaving behind a waft of his addictive scent. You feel as he pulls your panties to the side and strokes through your folds. The squelching sounds that come from your lower lips are loud. Each rub against your clit, each time his pretty, long fingers push into you, you feel yourself crave him more. He fucks you on his fingers for a while. His thumb presses perfectly against your clit while two of his other fingers thrust in and out of you at a pace that makes you see stars. His unoccupied hand holds one of your thighs down. His fingers dig into your skin in a way that may leave bruises, not that you mind at all.

“You hear that, sweetheart? You’re so fucking wet. What’s got you such a wreck? Hmm?”

“Daddy, I– fuck! Everything, it’s everything!”

“Everything? It’s how you keep whining and moaning while I finger your pretty little pussy, the way I’m speaking to you, the fact that you can’t see a damn thing. You’re at my mercy, sweetheart.”

You want to close your thighs so badly due to the amount of pleasure you’re feeling. A light slap on your thigh stops your action. A moment later, Yunho pulls his fingers from inside you, and you feel his weight lift off of the bed. The sound of foil ripping fills the space, followed by a low, growly groan. Though you can’t see it, you know Yunho kept his promise to put a condom on.

“Daddy,” your voice wavers with uncertainty.

You feel his hand rest against your waist, “It’s okay, princess. Daddy didn’t leave you all alone. I’m right here.”

The small gesture of reassurance makes your heart flutter for a brief moment. You feel the bed sink again and feel his bare skin against yours. He places a sweet kiss against your lips and whispers a quick check-in.

“You want Daddy to fuck you now?”

“Please, want Daddy’s cock, please.” You whine.

You feel the head of his cock rubs through your folds a few times before pushing in. Your panties are still pushed to the side, though they aren’t terribly in the way. Yunho continues to shower you with filthy comments and praises. Your hands fly forward and feel their way to his hair. Pulling him forward more, you pull him into another sloppy kiss. His thrusts are loud, and the squelching sound of your pussy is louder than it was with just his fingers. Your moans are muffled slightly by his kisses, but still, they’re loud. The fact that you can’t see anything makes it hard to know exactly what is happening.

“Wanna see you.” You request.

“My princess wants to see me now? I thought you liked not knowing what’s coming.” He teases.

“I- I do, but I wanna see Daddy now. Please?”

Yunho gives a particularly punctuated thrust, “Alright, princess, pick up your head a little, and I’ll take it off.”

You do as he says, and light floods your field of view a split second later. It takes a few moments for your eyes to adjust to the light. Once they do, you’re met with the sight of Yunho above you, sat up straight on his knees as he thrusts into you. He has a heated, lust-driven look in his eyes that brings you closer to your orgasm.

“Are you attached to these panties, baby?”

You shake your head at his question. A moment later, the telltale sign of clothing ripping fills the room. You break eye contact for a moment to see that he ripped the seat of your panties and was seconds away from ripping the waistband, too. Yunho smirked at you and leaned in close to your ear.

“I’ll buy you a new pair later, or I’ll pay for you to get some new ones.”

“Daddy, wanna– gonna–”

You’re not on Earth anymore. Your mind is so far gone, lost in the obsession you’ve discovered you have with his voice and the filthy, debauched noises being created in the space. In all honesty, you didn’t even process what he just said to you. All you can think about is the fact that you’re mere moments from your orgasm.

“Pretty baby wants to cum?” He asks, gripping onto your now bare hips.

“Please,” small tears form in your eyes, “Please, please!”

Yunho smirks at you again, “Cum.”

Your orgasm rips through you, stronger than anything you’ve ever felt before. Yunho’s thrusts grow stronger and faster. As you ride out your high, he reaches his own. He releases his load into the condom with a loud groan. His eyebrows furrowed together while his eyes remain locked on your own. You both start to fall from cloud nine around the same moment. Yunho leans down to hover above you and places a small kiss against your collarbone.

“You did such a good job, pretty girl. I’m so proud of you.”

That last comment wasn’t for the camera. That was specifically for you.

COPYRIGHT STARLITMARK 2024© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED — reposting/modifying any fic or piece of original writing posted on this blog is not allowed. Translations are not permitted. 

Networks: @cultofdionysusnet @kwritersworld @k-vanity

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[frostedsugarcookiehearts]

emerie. whimsy!reader

୨ৎ

emerie who doesn't have all their boxes in order up in the attic (aka their noggin). not the smartest person to ever live, but that's okay— they've got the spirit! hooray! yippee!

emerie who's always doing some kind of art. whether that be photography + film, painting, sculpting, dying hair, scrapbooking in their junk journal, collecting stickers, scribbling with oil pastels until you finally draw schlatt's mutton chops right, or whatever else.

emerie who is the biggest lady gaga/kesha/chappell roan/charli xcx fan of all time. a huge partygirl who quite honestly ends up so drunk they can't remember their own name or favorite color every other outing. even if they're sober (which they probably aren't!)

emerie who worries schlatt like it's their job. they were demoted to having to give him their life360 because of too many nights where they ended up sleeping at a friends but their phone was dead— but too late, because he'd already started sending out the search parties and put up the missing posters :( ... (you were devastated to find out you were serving bleh in your missing poster.)

emerie who has a aural fixation (got you freaks there). they always need to have headphones in, blaring music that their phones warns them is gonna make them go deaf, or someone talking to them, or listening to a podcast— their version of hell is a white room with no noise. genuine torture device.

emerie who has their little quirks. puts googly eyes and glitter on everything. collects stickers + dum dum wrappers. puts their ear to seashells on the beach and swears they can hear the ocean. drinks more lemonade than water. overall, a train wreck. a hot mess. emphasis on hot. but a mess.

fics under whimsy!reader:

nothing comes close to the golden coast

she was nineteen, she's got a fake id and a nose ring

how could you joke at a time like this? (pt.1)

screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain (pt.2)

[lonelyasawhisper]

Queen: A Night At The Garden

Kris Nicholson, Creem, 1st May 1977

Queen's music is like strong mouthwash. It takes my breath away but that initial rush is as temporary as it is abrupt. This probably has something to do with the discrepancy between what Queen is and what Queen would like to be. Queen IS a good studio band-cum-variety show with a flair for novelty, a patent on mock opera and Rock of Gibraltar guitar harmonies. What they would like to be is a good studio band and a great live act. Unfortunately they've mastered a studio perfection that does not lend itself to accurate live interpretation. Whether or not they choose to approach the two mediums separately, the fact remains: kids are amazed at Queen records and they expect to be doubly amazed by their concerts.

If Queen—without the assistance of tapes—could reproduce their studio sound live, they'd certainly be one of the most impressive bands on the rock scene. But they can't and they aren't and it's the vocals that cause most of the problem. They'd need at least five Freddie Mercurys [Aaargh!—Ed.] to do it right. (Imagine Mercury quints; five golden-throated, leotarded, stiffly posed fools.) If only Freddie Mercury could sing two notes at a time!

There is a gadget known as a harmonizer that provides a delayed echo and allows Freddie to harmonize with himself, but this effect has its limitations and is reserved for special occasions like "Killer Queen" and Freddie's spotlight solo in "White Man."

Lacking a consistently believable production of their music, the least Queen could do is compensate for aural imperfections with visual delights. Try as they might, their use of flash pots and strobe lights is old hat and the five basic postures in Freddie's crude ballet are amateur still life, pale in comparison to the volume and the ideas of the band's music.

Let us proceed to the actual scene of a Queen concert and see if we can discover just what keeps this band alive.

It is February 5th at Madison Square Garden. I see a sign bobbing and weaving through the upper aisles of the arena. At first it looks like it's moving of its own free will and then two heads become visible at either end of the banner. This is a familiar one. In three-foot high letters it boasts, "Queen is King." Behind and way above me, up in those seats in the clouds, (that us rock writers never get stuck in) there are two more signs held by fans. They read: "Queen A Night At The Garden" and "Queen Takes My Breath Away."

I wonder how many of these kids have seen Queen before. Will they be disappointed? Darkness sets in. The PA system blasts solo piano recital music that eventually fades into a tape of one of those majestic guitar intros Brian May likes to embroider around the beginning of his songs. The first chords of "Tie Your Mother Down," hit like thunder, maybe even induce butterflies in the stomach, temporarily.

The image of Freddie Mercury strikes. Decked in some kind of baggy white karate jump suit the singer looks sexier than he ever did in those ridiculous striped suspender shorts. For a moment Freddie has me believing that he's cut his overbearing physical exposure from the act. But by the third song he's stripped down to a second skin of white, commonly known as leotards. In Freddie's case they're pain in the ass leotards. Every five minutes he becomes distracted as a leotard strap shimmies down his shoulder. He searches for a moment when he can inconspicuously slide it back up before the whole damn thing falls off. Unfortunately Freddie is not cool about it. By the end of the set I'm almost more intent on calculating the next time a strap will drop and how he'll get it back up, than I am on hearing the music.

Freddie is a strange cookie on stage. He waves his magic wand (actually it's a mike stand but you can use your imagination) and the flashpots explode. No big deal. Personally I think the Wizard of Oz had better flashpots and that movie was filmed decades ago. Freddie addresses the audience, "Listen my darlings, let me do the talking for a change." Yecch! Too coy. I don't believe him.

"Somebody To Love" comes early in the set. This is what is called strategy. It comes early in the set because it's impossible to do justice to in concert. If everything else goes right, by the end of the show the kids will have forgotten how punchless the live version is in comparison to the lush production that stole thousands of AM hearts.

Deep down, underneath the black nail polish, there is some talent.

Besides Freddie, the only really visible member of Queen is Brian May. May is the exact opposite of Mercury— a real Yin-Yang combination. In the words of Chuan Tzu, "The perfect negative principle is majestically passive (May). The perfect positive (Mercury) is powerfully active...the interaction of the two results is that harmony by which all things are produced." Somehow it DOES work.

Wanna puck? Monreal Mercurys owner displays the franchise's new uniform. (Note the hand-tailored sleeves and custom-fitted mouthpiece).

May appears silent and serious. He plays guitar as if he were studying constellations. There is nothing silly about him. Even the starch in his Elizabethan white shirt fits. He looks elegant, contemplative, (a misplaced 18th century poet?) and yet he plays with all the erotic energy and guts of the heaviest and dirtiest of rock 'n' rollers. You could say he doesn't look like he sounds. But this inconsistency serves to make his character all the more enchanting.

During "Brighton Rock" Brian takes a long solo. With the use of two echoplex systems he manages to produce the sound of three guitars. It's a well-crafted solo with lots of showmanship and lots of clean, thoughtfully executed riffs. He hardly moves while he's playing. All the energy is flowing from head to fingers. It's one of the few moments in Queen's set where nothing threatens to cancel out the emotion of his playing. Looking back on this a moment later, it's easy to understand what Brian has in mind when he says, "I want to be good in the sense of being more expressive."

Queen dares to attempt May's Mccartneyish " '39." It doesn't fare too well. Freddie sings it. Freddie sings all the songs. Funny, on the record Brian sings " '39." Maybe he feels that singing would be too much of a diversion while he's playing guitar.

In introducing "You Take My Breath Away," Freddie announces, "Maybe next time we'll come back with an orchestra." (While he's at it I hope he remembers to bring a choir, too.) Freddie adds, "You are what we call our sophisticated rock audience." Is he laughing because he knows it's a joke or is he uneasy because that's what he'd like to believe?

Imagine (Freddie) Mercury quints; five golden-throated leotarded, stiffly-posed fools.

Meanwhile the set has been embellished with intermittent gimmicks; a roadie hands a triangle to bassist John Deacon to hit one solitary note. What drama! Brian May plays a ukelele for five seconds during the band's instrumental version of "Bring Back Leroy Brown," etc. etc.

Freddie's vocal exhibition in "White Man" is impressive. He manages to sound like a voice and an instrument at the same time. It offers substantial evidence that deep down, underneath the black nail polish, there is some talent. Too bad he has to mask it in such demeaning external distractions as his unsteady Ian Anderson pose and his off-time dances to the music.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is the evening's anti-climax. When the song reaches the really ornate vocal rounds Freddie disappears from the stage and all twenty thousand of us are left sitting in the dark. It's like faking an orgasm (need I say that the real thing is so much better?). Of course this maneuver is done so that Freddie can change his costume but it doesn't sit too well with me, not to mention the fifteen-year-olds behind me who think they're being ripped off. After all, they can hear the record at home. They want to see Queen do the humanly impossible, and when they're slipped a fast one they know it. "This is unforgivable," says one kid. "Yeah, they're gonna haveta do somethin' big to make up for that," his friend replies. Hear that, boys? You can't fool Mother Nature.

Freddie returns in black tights. He looks much better in black, especially now that he's got one of those real slick short hairstyles. White is too feminine. Again, strategy saves the day. The kids have been screaming for "Stone Cold Crazy" all night and now, when they're feeling cheated, "Stone Cold Crazy" will pacify them.

"Stone Cold Crazy" is perhaps one of the most breathless hard rockers that Queen does (on record) but somehow it loses its bite when a series of strobe lights begin to flash to the beat and eventually wind up totally off-beat, turning the frenzied effect into gaudy confusion.

Freddie dedicates "Keep Yourself Alive" to the audience. "Liar" is followed by "In The Lap Of The Gods." There are two encores, so l'm told. I didn't stay for them. I came to see if Brian May still knew what he was doing—I didn't need any more Mercury shenanigans.

We turn now to the scene of the post-Queen party. It's held at Oh Ho So in So Ho and it's so-so. Freddie is reputed to have a fascination for the Oriental and that's as good a reason as any to jam 500 press people into a 250 capacity restaurant. The food in this joint is really good, I come here all the time. But food is not what I'm interested in. Standing well over six-feet-tall, Brian May is easy enough to spot but he's busy holding court. I can barely justify barging in on the ladies in waiting, the men in waiting, the fans in waiting...later.

"Yeah, I know Frampton sold millions of records, but I don't think you can capture the whole thing outside of a studio."

In the meantime my friend Liz and I have decided that we're going to corner Freddie and ask him what brand nail polish he wears. She sees someone she knows who knows who we want to meet (Freddie) and she manages to get introduced while I play voyeur. Alas, the best-laid plans of mice and women... Freddie's nails aren't black or white. They're just old plain old fingernails. But, we do manage to find out that Freddie has been asked to pose with Mr. Pumping Iron himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Whether or not the event will take place is still a mystery. Freddie wasn't giving any clues.

Queen poses at left, shortly after Brian May's guitar mysteriously exploded sending slivers of wood and steel into the eyeballs of the rest of the group, causing temporary blindness. The matter is under investigation by Scotland Yard. Below, Roger: "Aye likes to put me boogies in me pant cuff 'cause it keeps 'em clean...Wot about it?"

Freddy: "Aye think ee wants one on 'is lens, eh?"

After at least an hour of anxious waiting for parking space beside Brian I finally score. Yes, he remembers doing the interview last year, but he says I look different. Yes, it must be the glasses. I don't have them on tonight. I'm blind as a bat but you know what they say about girls who wear glasses.

Pulling no punches; I explain to Brian that I'm doing a Queen story for America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine. I am totally understanding as he apologizes, "We haven't been doing interviews 'cause we're so busy. We're playing all big concert halls and we're in a different city every night. We travel about five hours every day. It's just too hectic." If he wasn't such a nice guy I'd be saying, bullshit, everyone else does it, but he is SUCH a nice guy and I sympathize with every word he says. Two points for the power of smooth talking.

I proceed to find out that the next album will NOT be named after a Marx Brothers movie, that Groucho owns an official Queen II jacket and that Queen will be meeting him in L.A. Rock on Groucho!

On the subject of the band's incessant use of gimmickry, Brian comments, "A Day At the Races can be seen as an extension of A Night At the Opera". Though last year Brian's favorite album was Queen II, this year he professes to like A Day At The Races despite its similarities to Opera. He had once expressed discontent with Opera due to the switch of emphasis from guitar riff-based rockers to experiments with instruments like the Toy Koto, the genuine aloha ukelele and "Good Company's" guitar jazz band, not to mention Freddie's obsession for music in the movie musical genre.

A Day At The Races is the first self-produced Queen album. Previous albums had been stamped with both the band's name and that of Roy Thomas Baker—the man who served as scapegoat for numerous accusations regarding overproduction. A Day At The Races bears a pattern of excess remarkably similar to that of A Night At the Opera. Of producer Baker, Brian said: "We grew together and now we've got our own things to do. We always had a lot to say about the production anyway," he added, hinting at the possibility that Queen's vices have long since been self-inflicted.

Considering the vast amount of time and money spent on studio technique it is not surprising to discover that even before May had heard the influential playing of guitarists like Page and Hendrix, he was fascinated by Phil Spector's productions. "They were very emotional and very slushy," he explains with a gleam in his eye. Strange combination this romanticism, this background in astronomy, this technician who built his own guitar from the wood of an antique fireplace, this man whose songs are to him "very personal." Strange that all these experiences convene in one brain and come out with a split vote, half in favor of the schmaltzy sentimentality of numbers like the Beatle-ish "Long Away," the other half thrashing out in malevolent waves of heavy sound and male chauvinism, witness "Tie Your Mother Down."

Getting back to the matter of production. Brian recognizes the discrepancy between the live and studio version of a song like "Somebody To Love." It doesn't seem to bother him. Being dead set against the possibility of a live album, why should he worry as long as he's so busy filling big arenas that he doesn't have time to do interviews. Still, his heart is into making good studio recordings. "If we did a live album, it would have to be really good, but I can't imagine it. I think live albums are a cop out." He pauses and smiles, "Yeah, I know Frampton sold millions of records, but I don't think you can capture the whole thing outside of a studio." This was all said with a degree of sincerity that I'd like to believe but a conflicting report challenges his position. Reliable sources seem to believe that Queen is considering the possibility of recording live in Japan this summer with the able assistance of none other than Roy Thomas Baker.

So Queen and success have met. So far the two are getting along. A year ago Brian May proudly announced that the only tape the band used was "God Save The Queen" at the beginning and ending of concerts. "We don't like the idea of using tapes as backing tracks," he explained. Considering the role tapes play in their current show, suffice to say times have changed.

A year ago Brian believed there were things Queen could do in a small theatre that they could never do in Madison Square Garden. "When you start playing those places you have to change your whole act. A group can become like a picture in a frame. Communication in arenas is much more difficult and needs to be approached carefully." Now that Queen is playing only big arenas Brian expresses a feeling of comfort within the new atmosphere, explaining that the band feels geared towards it now. Queen certainly manages to fill large halls with sound but whether they know it or not, they've not mastered a way of filling their new frame with a coinciding picture.

It's deadline day and devoted soul that I am I've taken it upon myself to listen to all the Queen albums in order. The first two are a breeze, Queen bouncing from melodic early Yes style to heavy Led Zep riffing and then on to the sledgehammer stance of Deep Purple at their most menacing.

By Sheer Heart Attack the seeds of gimmickry are planted and they begin to grow like a small malignant cancer. Freddie Mercury has stopped singing about mercury and biblical references are less frequent. The band's image becomes less majestic, more decadent, killer Queen, and then a complete turnaround with A Night At The Opera wherein the boys abandon guts for cutesy cleverness. It is by this album that Queen have become definitely Queen. Maybe the novelty twist is their only surefire approach to originality: heavy metal novelty? A Day At the Races, as accounted for earlier, is more of the same as Opera.

I can still hear Brian talking about Jimi Hendrix with a sense of awe: "He was the man." At the same time the image of Freddie comes into view. He is posing for pictures. He keeps an eye on his reflection in the mirror. He primps his jet black hair and snickers in a barely audible but intentional tone, "Got to keep up the image." It's hard to imagine a more diverse marriage of ideas. It's transient, it's experimental and it's confusing as hell.

Ever since their 1973 debut I've followed Queen. I've reviewed every album with enthusiasm and then somehow forgotten them until the next release reminded me that I like the last one. I get all excited when a Queen record comes out, but it doesn't last. What's the answer? Staying power? Preservatives? It's driving me stone cold crazy.

Retrieved from The Creem Archive

[scifigeneration]

Blade Runner soundtrack at 30: how Vangelis used electronic music to explore what it means to be human

by Alison Cole, Composer and Lecturer in Screen Composition, Sydney Conservatorium of Music at the University of Sydney

In June 1994 the late composer Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou – better known as Vangelis – released his soundtrack for the 1982 film Blade Runner. It would go on to become emblematic of his skills, with only a handful of soundtracks reaching a similar level of cult status.

Prior to this, sci-fi film scores tended to be characterised by orchestral sound palettes. For instance, John Williams’ 1991 Star Wars soundtrack leaned on the London Symphony Orchestra to communicate the vastness of a galaxy far, far away.

Vangelis, on the other hand, used an electronic approach to bring a subtlety and complexity that shifted the focus inwards. His ability to communicate deep emotion, alongside expansive philosophical concepts, was perhaps his greatest achievement with Blade Runner.

Missing pieces

Director Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was adapted from Phillip K. Dick’s 1968 sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – which itself was a thoughtful examination of empathy and what it means to be human. The emotional gravitas of the original story, along with Vangelis’ accompanying timbral exploration, created an aural experience that was new to sci-fi films at the time.

Vangelis began work on the score in 1981. He received edited footage scene-by-scene on VHS tapes and created live takes in his studio with his synthesiser collection.

However, the first official soundtrack was delayed some 12 years after the film’s release, due to what was reportedly an ongoing disagreement with producers.

When it finally was released, purists viewed it as more of an album than a soundtrack. They criticised it for not having much of the music used in the original film, and for including pieces that never appeared in the film, such as Main Titles and Blush Response.

While the 2007 version (a 25th anniversary edition) included some unreleased material, parts of the original soundtrack remain unreleased even today.

A symmetry between newness and nostalgia

By emphasising longer drawn out notes, rather than thick instrumental combinations, Vangelis thoughtfully taps into the atmosphere of Scott’s visual world to create something truly unique.

Early sci-fi movies such as Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) often used electronic instruments developed in the early to mid-1900s, such as the theremin and the modular synthesiser. While these instruments helped augment concepts such as aliens, spaceships and robots, they did this somewhat simplistically.

A more sophisticated perspective pervades through Blade Runner, which combines film-noir instrumentation with classical, electronic, jazz and Middle Eastern music genres.

Specifically, Vangelis leverages the different sound qualities of synthesisers – such as bright and airy, thin and cold, or dark and thick – to at once capture emotion and highlight the complex ideas in the film’s narrative. In the final act, expansive synths dominate as the film reaches an intellectual and emotional climax.

While the synthesisers lend an artificial timbre to the score, the musicality simultaneously communicates life and feeling. In this way the foreign and familiar became enmeshed.

The film’s retro costuming and brutalist architecture also set up an expectation for the soundtrack. At times, the score will meaningfully go against this expectation by delving into a more nostalgic sound. The track Love Theme is a perfect example.

Innovative takes

Vangelis’ innovative use of dialogue in the soundtrack also helped to translate the complexities of the human condition. The tracks Main Titles, Blush Response, Wait for Me and Tears in Rain all feature dialogue in a way that makes them feel like a part of the film’s DNA.

The soundtrack’s arrangement was also uncommon for its time, as it mirrored the action narrative sequence. Tracks 1 through 4 are mixed as a single ongoing track. Tracks 5 through 7 are separated by silence, while tracks 8 through to 12 are also combined into a single piece. While this technique is common in electronic composition now, it was unique at the time.

The films dark, fraught and sad dystopian themes are further highlighted through collaborations with Welsh singer Mary Hopkins in Rachel’s Song, and Greek singer Demis Roussos in Tales of the Future.

Today, the Blade Runner soundtrack remains the most beloved of Vangelis’ works by his ardent fans – and it continues to commands its place in the 20th-century electronic music canon.

[doppleganger-rental]

We knew it was coming, but I was not prepared for him to leave this quickly. He changed and challenged so much. I was just telling somebody the other day that I had watched Rabbits again for like the 5th time. He had this uncanny ability to tap in to the visual and aural of dreams. Mulholland Drive is my favorite of his work and it’s because the film makes dream and emotional sense even as the narrative doesn’t.

And bless Steven Spielberg for giving him a beautiful film exit as John Ford.

[ammonitetestpatterns]

to play as firstness, hannyashingyo the arrowbud of confessio amantis. the double of "and romance" to also aural line the runway of junko koshino, this time in spirit.

roseate coils of the wire, emergent veins, a porous environment, the flicker echo purpling plomb, circle of tongues, experimental physics of new life. secretum meum mihi that is of every soul to keep. what is performance? is this a performance? i didn't know.

[krispyweiss]

“Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII” in Theaters April 24; Home Audio and Video Coming May 2

With a new Steven Wilson remix and restoration of the original film, Pink Floyd’s famed performance inside the ruins of Pompeii’s Roman Amphitheatre is set for reissue.

Premiering in movie houses April 24 and coming to home video and audio May 2, the rechristened “Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII” captures the band playing to no one and looking to satisfy only themselves.

The band released a seven-minute edit of “Echoes” to announce the forthcoming release. And the restoration of the just-discovered original film and Wilson’s aural handiwork has the 1972 recording looking like it was shot last week and sounding as if it’s being performed in real time.

The result is a “rare and unique document” of the pre-Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd, Nick Mason said.

Among the other tracks are “A Saucerful of Secrets,” “One of These Days,” “Careful with that Axe, Eugene” and “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.”

2/16/25

[bedlamsbard]

how would you rate the MCU's use of alternate realities so far? as someone who's done that before and done it well, imo

oh, terrible, there hasn't been one version of it yet that I think has been done well. there are, for example, individual What If episodes that I've liked, but by and large those haven't been the episodes that have contributed to the wider What If plot (which I think is done very poorly and is designed to drive me, personally, insane). DSMOM didn't handle its alternate realities well, Loki S1 (I haven't seen S2) obviously rewired my brain but then I didn't really like how they handled most of the season, and the stinger at the end of The Marvels -- well, it's a stinger, you know? it doesn't tell us anything until we get the next thing. and that's it, right? in the greater MCU? I might be missing something, but unless we're counting the Quantumania post-credits that I'm pretty sure Marvel is trying to ignore in pure panic about the Jonathan Majors situation there's not actually anything...wait, I forgot about Spider-Man: No Way Home.

As a movie I think it's basically fine, but it (and to a lesser extent Loki) set up a precedent that I think the MCU is really struggling with in its treatment of alternate universes, which is whether alternate versions of mainline MCU characters (for various reasons I really dislike the term variant, so I don't use it) should be played by the same actors. and the fact that the MCU doesn't know how to deal with this is a big problem, way more so on a fundamental level than the whole cameo deal. because the thing is, they need the name and face recognition of the known actors -- on a practical level, because that's the person that the audience is attached to, which is why they can cheat by doing what NWH (and, I'm assuming, Deadpool & Wolverine, which I haven't seen yet) does and use actors/characters from older Marvel non-MCU films; at least some of the audience already knows them. like, am I going to be attached to a MCU Steve Rogers that isn't played by Chris Evans or a Natasha Romanoff that isn't played by Scarlett Johansson? honestly, no -- and I know this because I don't have emotional reactions to the animated versions of the characters, whether in What If? or in non-MCU Marvel animated stuff; I literally don't register them as the same character. I register them as a Nat or Steve, but not the Nat or Steve.

(sidebar: this may partially just be my issue, I'm super aural; going back to my SW days I don't register the TCW versions of the PT characters as the same characters either. as a Anakin or Obi-Wan or Padme, but not the same Anakin or Obi-Wan or Padme. my tolerance for this sort of thing is considerably lower now than it was during my SW days, partially because of how SW has handled the animation-live action transition. some of that has spilled over into how I process the MCU. no, I'm not thrilled about it either and I'm not going to poke to see how much, I just know that it's there.)

NWH and Loki both cast different actors as different versions of the same character, and then DSMOM and The Marvels didn't (Loki actually did both, tbh, and Quantumania rode its coattails) and now here we are. I think Marvel really does not know how to deal with this; on one level, it's just straight-up confusing to the audience. And that kind of kicks over into my other issue with how they've been dealing with alternate universes, which is a completely different way than how most fanfic writers deal with alternate universes. And by most fanfic writers I mean me, though I'm absolutely not the only fic writer who does this.

it's the "what is an AU" problem.

so I write what I call single point divergence AUs -- what if one thing (big or small) changes and various consequences cascade from that. I'm very, very strict about this. I use the same base worldbuilding for every universe, I use the same consistent rules of the MCU up until whatever my divergence point is, everything else in that universe is the same unless the difference can be linked back to that original divergence point. (I also have an internal MCU divergence point where I treat anything from canon after that point as weak canon at best, because I am genuinely convinced that there's an in-universe split even if Marvel never confirms this.) I'm very serious about this. I know the canon that I work with inside and out; if I have to choose between two contradicting pieces of canon, because Marvel has contradicted itself a few times, I will go with what I think makes the most logical sense based on all of the other evidence around it. I have thought everything through backwards, forwards, and sideways because I want that AU and its consequences to be rock solid. I don't do "wouldn't it be neat if --" unless I can back it up because otherwise it won't hold water for me. I will always see the weak spots and they'll always make me nuts; it will not be structurally sound for me and I can't work with that. I'm a little more extreme about it than your average fic writer, but many writers do single point divergence AUs, because most fic writers actually care a lot about canon. which is why they're writing fanfic about it!

the actual MCU does not do that. the actual MCU does a combo of "wouldn't it be neat if --" and "wouldn't it be fucked up if --" but with only the barest groundwork or support. I will fight What If in a Waffle House parking lot, because WI masquerades as single point divergence but is actually "wouldn't it be neat if --" Specifically designed to drive me, personally, insane. NWH also does "wouldn't it be neat if --" but at least they were sincere about it, I don't think DSMOM actually thought about it at all. With What If it's incredibly obvious what they thought was stupid in the mainline MCU.

they're also using the alternate universes as a shortcut to bring in non-mainline MCU characters and properties and frankly I hate that because I think it's weakening what the MCU's greatest strength has always been.

anyway, this is a lot of rambling and I'm not sure I actually came to a coherent point anywhere, but yeah. the MCU's treatment of alternate universes makes me really sad and a little upset, because I love alternate universes and treated well they're devastating. but the MCU -- and this is actually true for comics as well -- does not handle them the same way most fic writers do. in fact, the only genre that handles AUs the way that most fic writers (who are doing divergence, either single point or otherwise, not like...coffeeshop AUs) do is alternate history. which is why I always say that historical fiction is the closest genre to fanfiction.

[aeolianblues]

I’m just going to have to accept my place at some point— accept that the aural is always going to be an inherently less engaging medium to catch people’s attention. Going to have to accept someday that there’s nothing like putting a film out there, no matter what the budget; a low-budget shoddily made visual thing, a film, a TV show, a documentary; what have you, will probably always leave audio an inferior and less catchy medium. You can speak your heart out, you can make as many radio documentaries. At the end of the day what is going to catch people’s attention is the Kneecap (the film)s and the Complete Unknowns of this world. Radio docs can’t ever hope to touch those dizzying heights, nor tbh do books and written stuff. All this personally pertains to music, and I’ve been thinking about it as a music journalist myself.

No one reads interviews anymore. It’s a lost art. People are subscribing to magazines (print or digital) as a purely preservationist move: they want this form of media and journalism to survive. Also it’s skimmable I suppose. It’s not often a particularly inspiring medium to convey ideas about music. Hey, though the famous saying goes, writing about music is like dancing about architecture (this is an actual and widely quoted saying, actually). Fine. Accepted. What about music through audio, does that not seem appropriate a medium?

Nope. Not shareable. Not relatable. I’ve spent years trying, god knows I’ve talked to some really interesting people even at my infantile levels of being a journalist, but audio is so opaque. You can’t ‘search’ it, you can’t share a snappy visual that doesn’t require people to actually listen for a full minute—60 seconds of your time! Even as audio is the medium to which music belongs, musicians simply cannot belong to it. You can’t tell who’s who, you don’t know what the musicians look like, a visual (and often important) element of how musicians present is lost.

It’s got to be films then, hasn’t it? Kneecap’s compelling story could never reach as many people on the many, many interviews they’d done recounting the very same over the last 6 years at least. They have been around for a while. Since 2017, in fact. But it was the film, the visuals accompanying it, that actually brought it to a wider audience and made Kneecap household names. A Complete Unknown too, like I’d mentioned. Reintroducing Dylan to a generation, reconnecting others with their love for the man and his life.

And, I guess, I am on tumblr right now after all, so it’d be amiss not to mention. The humble GIF. Ironically, the GIFs, muted, looping animated frames, are what can propel a lot of musicians to website-wide stardom sometimes. What a selling point GIFs have been, of so many media, on this website. (I think the visual being so strong is also why I see, for example, way more people willing to gif out, idolise and follow the fictional band in We Are Lady Parts than actually listen to bands like The Muslims or Habibi, draw fanart of Hobie Brown from the animated Spiderman film than listen to Crystal Axis. Who, FYI, put out one the best grungy rock tracks I’ve heard this year.

Why people will follow a rebellious-smirking, leather jacket-wearing fictional character than a real-life punk band. If I were having a cynical day (and I try so hard not to, it’s self-defeating! It does nothing to help anything I’m doing!) then I’d say this website cares more about fictional characters they can dream about than wanting to give a shit about real people making art in the present— or real people in general. But I try not to. I acknowledge that visuals are powerful, and embellished storylines can be more compelling than real life.)

But that brings me to my lament: many, many real people have incredible stories to be told. Someone once said to me something like, all musicians have something a little wrong with them, because the desire to stand up on a platform and tell stories and open yourself up to emotional vulnerability, to visibility, to ridicule, takes a certain kind of illness and incredible courage. People that get up on stage DO have a story to tell. That’s why they’re out there singing on their own words. In their voices. About the lives they live and those around them do.

But they’ll never be told. Filming is still high budget. I could script out a band’s life and write it in a book (you know I could. Some of you already know I’m capable of dragging things on with every minute detail). I could narrate and produce an audio documentary about it. But it’ll never be as powerful as what can be done with a film crew. The reach of visuals is beyond what anything else can convey.

So many incredible stories will be lost. It’s happened before, of course. When Sam Sutherland wrote his book Perfect Youth, about the history of the first wave of punk rock in Canada in the late 1970s, he was the first to attempt a comprehensive history of Canadian punk. This was in 2012. Shocking, right! The UK and US scenes were way better documented: films about the Sex Pistols and the Clash ensured the London scene was enshrined in legend forever. The punks of Manchester were documented (in no small part thanks to the fact that some of the biggest stars of indie, post punk and New Romantic music of the 80s were Manchester youth punks in the 70s). The NYC scene is extremely well documented, where would I begin. But in Canada, many of its original troublemakers were dead, had moved on, had never recorded their music and were now.thousands of kilometres across the country, and the venues were long shut, repurposed or bulldozed. Montreal’s ‘first punk band’, the 222s, only have a few surviving recordings out there because a presenter on a campus radio station in Montreal they has one done a session for, had found he never threw their tape away. The only surviving recordings. Many others weren’t that lucky, even when (similar to Manchester), Montreal punk in the 70s provided a playground for some of the best-loved indie and pop rock bands of the 80s, like the Doughboys and Men Without Hats. Canadian punks in the 70s hadn’t had the awareness of legacy, nor the sort of money it’d take to record vinyl, much less have a camera running. Nothing was saved.

It’s a similar thing with bands today, even though equipment and editing software is relatively cheaper. Many people feel filming bands is a bit of sunken effort. We host one of my country’s biggest film festivals, and I never see student filmmakers taking part in the music video programmes. These are fully funded. Sure, local bands will do the portrait cellphone Instagram reel recording, but barring a single viral video that does not guarantee people listening to your music, it’s not quite the same as properly shot camera footage.

(Often with viral reels, it seems people blow up for things that are at best adjacent to their music. A video shitting on the role of the bassist in the band. A drummer complaining about how long everyone else takes to set up their pedalboard. Singer being a diva. ‘Guess what instrument this member plays’. It doesn’t really tell you the story behind a band, nor guarantees they’ll listen to your tunes. One too many a viral band has had scores of angry ‘fans’ yelling at them that they’ve posted their latest single ‘too many times.’ Hello?? Entitlement much?)

I don’t know what the solution is, to be quite honest. We’ve done filmed radio sessions, and while in theory you’d think people like those more than just us saying ‘hey this is on radio (audio) tomorrow morning!’, in reality people don’t care quite as much. They leave a like on our reels and move on, 10 people will actually follow on to the YouTube, and that’s often band members their proud dads (I’ve been followed by so many proud dads, I’ve awwed). So people leave. It’s a thankless job. Unless you’re KEXP it’s not really rewarding either. And I’ve kept it running for two years, but I’m not immune to burnout, or what you could call ‘yelling in the void’ fatigue. I feel stupid doing this stuff, sometimes. I’ll never tell anyone because it’s my job to keep the morale up, but it’s rewardless and sometimes tiring. Not that you expect anything out of it.

Maybe better video editing software, or better graphics processing will make this task easier. In the meanwhile, I guess don’t lose heart? I’ve written this out textually, and that means if anyone at all has read this far, then text isn’t dead yet. Takeaways? Don’t succumb to ‘my generation is shit, no one’s interesting anymore.’ They are. It’s just really hard to reach you through the algorithm. So I say, pay attention locally. There’s nothing like going to a great local show for $7 and seeing quality hidden gems. You can talk to them after the show even! It feels like cheating to have access to it. Someone will eventually do it. In the meanwhile, keep heart. And big up, Rich Pepiatt.

[kuiperoid]

Dark Grey Matter: Neurodivergence and the Goth Experience

[originally posted here]

Alternative subcultures have existed for nearly as long as human society. Modern examples include the flappers of the 1920s, the beatniks of the 1950s, and the hippies of the 1960s. These alternative subcultures have been defined by music, literature, fashion, and film. For those outside of these subcultures, it may be unclear what would make one wish to exist in a group that is not part of the norm. While there are many factors for each individual, it is clear that neurodivergence plays at least part of a role for many people. For the case study, I will be using the goth scene, being a member myself and because it is both newer and longer lasting than some of the others, being what to subcultures as water is to liquids, if you may. There have already been analyses of specific post-punk musicians and their neurodivergent diagnoses - Gary Numan and David Byrne being autistic, Danny Elfman with his ADHD/OCD combo, and Blixa Bargeld being synesthesic, not to mention speculation about countless others. This is not one of those. The musicians are important, but this is more about the members of the subculture as a whole, whether they produce music or not. This is also not to say that every goth or person in any given alternative subculture is neurodivergent or that every neurodivergent person is involved in an alternative subculture, just an observation on the overlap between the two. 

To start us off, let us focus on what is typically seen as central to the goth subculture: the music. There are currently a myriad of subgenres of goth music: darkwave, deathrock, gothic rock, and ethereal wave, among others. It is sometimes difficult to define goth music as a whole, especially with bands that bleed into non-goth specific post-punk genres, such as shoegaze or industrial and with different terminology being more popular in different regions and eras. A rough definition for all of these subgenres would be a variety of alternative rock music with origins in punk (though some have influence that includes glam rock, synthpop, and even Caribbean-British dub reggae) that typically values minor chords, a heavy bassline that dictates the melody, slower rhythms, mezzo vocals, and artful, often dark lyrics. Why would this genre appeal to neurodivergent people specifically? The initial appeal is the sound. A common comorbidity with autism, ADHD, and other variations of neurodivergence is Auditory Processing Disorder or other differences in sound processing. Those thusly impacted may respond to verbal cues more slowly, be irritated by certain sounds more easily than others, and mishear words more frequently. There are numerous hypotheses to address differences in musical taste and likely multiple contributing factors and differences in audio processing may be one of those factors. While not every instance of APD is exactly the same, it is easy to see how a music genre that focuses on deeper pitches, more pronounced vocal styles, and slower rhythms would aurally appeal to individuals who experience auditory processing differences. 

Aside from the way that the music sounds, there is also great appeal in the lyrical content. Certainly, goth bands touch on a variety of topics, from the historical monologues on the World Wars by Joy Division and the Pagan rites of Inkubus Sukkubus to the scathing diatribes of 1980s conservative politics by Sisters of Mercy and the sexual escapades explored by London After Midnight, just to name a few. Across the diverse set of subjects that these bands cover, there is a consistent return to one recurring theme: being an outsider observing an imperfect world. The experience of feeling like an outsider is certainly one that many neurodivergent individuals can relate to. Many neurodivergent individuals are made to feel like outsiders from a young age, often bullied by their peers for their communication styles and told by family members to behave differently, traits they have difficulty controlling. With differences in communication and internalizing the world, it is difficult to make sense of supposed social rules and forge connections. When one has similar requirements to exist happily as others but difficulty obtaining them due to reasons outside of one’s control, it is easy to recognize the world as a flawed place full of inequality and rewards for shallow traits. There is hope for those whose auditory processing differences do not manifest in alternative music, at least not exclusively. Fortunately for youth of today who still feel like outsiders, be it due to neurodivergence or anything else, but still have more mainstream aural preferences, modern pop artists are less afraid of embracing oddity and touching on feelings of isolation. Some may even serve as bridges for those with a taste for multiple genres as some pop artists have expressed an appreciation for goth artists. One now-former member of One Direction previously cited Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures as a primary music inspiration, Dua Lipa did a photoshoot that made an homage to Siouxsie Sioux, and Billie Eilish has been seen performing in an Alien Sex Fiend shirt.

Of tertiary importance to the scene compared to music but more obvious to those not involved in the scene is fashion and makeup. The way that neurodivergent people often do not internalize social norms, current trends are often similarly not internalized, so dressing according to any sort of trend is not even considered. That being said, clothes are not necessarily chosen at random either. Something of utmost importance to many neurodivergent individuals when choosing clothes, as with many of their neurotypical counterparts, is comfort. This sometimes manifests in more obvious physical ways, such as removing tags or avoiding certain fabrics. It is easy to see how a scene that values DIY aesthetics would appeal to those with sensory differences; no one can fault one for cutting off a tag when the entire outfit is cut up and put back together with safety pins. However, there are also ways to achieve psychological comfort. Case in point, Blixa Bargeld, founding member of German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten and arguably founder of the industrial music genre as well as former guitarist of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has attributed his preference for wearing all black to to his synesthesia and finding other colors to be too overwhelming. Many black-wearers have made similar statements, with or without a diagnosis of synesthesia or something similar. Neurodivergent people also often find comfort in wearing clothing related to one’s special interest, so band shirts are a common staple, along with outfits that homage musicians, movie characters, or others they admire. There is also the issue of expression. Neurotypical people often have difficulty reading the emotions of their neurodivergent peers due to differences in emotional expression. Clothing and makeup, in addition to highlighting one’s general interests, can also help in making emotional expression more obvious to others. Of later importance, many neurodivergent individuals find that dressing in a way that labels them as a person with certain interests, this can help them attract others of similar interests. Given that many neurodivergent people have difficulty making friends and initiating social interactions, having an easy way to call to others that they are like them is socially beneficial. 

In conclusion, it is clear why there is a connection between these two. Alternative subcultures are a welcoming environment for many who feel like outsiders are neurodivergent individuals are often made into outsiders by default. In addition, the sounds and sights of goth specifically appeal to many of those with specific sensory differences. With such a long, rich history that continues to this day, this subculture is fit to be quite a rewarding special interest. 

[blindrapture]

greerings to you this morning here in Castleford. I have today's weather report for you. the temperature outside is 34 degrees Fahrenheit. the sun is bright, even through the clouds.

I have all of his movies. most of them are on DVD, my favorites are on Blu-ray (as is all of Twin Peaks).

honestly this is one of the treasures of my media collection. the blu-ray remaster of Mulholland Drive is kinda gorgeous, as is that incredible Elephant Man packaging.

I have, of course, watched all of this. most of it at least twice, some of it nearly a dozen times. I do like to collect the complete works of certain directors, the ones I latch onto. but David Lynch feels like the most rewarding to collect for.

it's a staggering set of films, diverse and entrancing and incredibly thoughtful about the medium. his films want to be films, they may feel experimental but Lynch films have their own consistent cinematic language, more like a cinematic *dialect*, separate from any of his peers, and it's a dialect deeply informed by an understanding of what it's like to *watch* films. a vigorous marriage of visual and aural elements to make complete experiences. not a single part of the process is left out, as audio has the ambient and the diegetic each feeling as maturely developed as the dialogue and the Soundtracks, and visually Lynch famously has the Symbolic raised to an equal footing as the traditional Naturalist elements. the actors do not have top billing over the Symbolic here; the dialogue is written as if Hollywood as an industry had been developing the Surreal as seriously as it had been developing the conventions of Hitchcock all this time.

Lynch believed in the power of cinema; for him, the techniques he used were as obvious as parallel cuts and star power. and in watching his films, we feel without words that we Get it, because.. he was always right, about cinema! he knew the psychological effects of every technique he used. he knew them like he didn't even make them, like he was sitting here next to us Watching the movies too. he knew that film was like dream, that *everyone* dreams, and.. that there's certain ways we *want* to feel after we wake up from a really good dream.

he was also so famously, disarmingly, earnestly American. he told stories about America because, like with cinema, he *loved* America. he loved its "culture," which really meant he loved its people and the fixations they have. their big exciting machinery. their shiny or their rusty cars, their good suits and their plaid and denim, their graceful age and their high-dreaming youth. he loved style and he loved mess. he loved electricity and he loved steam. he loved roads, diners, the day and the night. he loved coffee, and he loved Coca-Cola. and he *loved*, with great empathy, what he saw as America's terror over the formless fight of good versus evil.

in my opinion that is the crux of his artistic mastery, that he was actually able to *depict, cinematically,* a conflict so innately formless. he didn't just capture, visually, the absence of light. he captured a vast metaphysical exchange that shifts as gradually and turbulently as the clouds. he captured the formless and put it on film.

Twin Peaks 2017 is.. a fucking uncompromising masterpiece. the world didn't deserve him.

in every way he was an inspiration. to entire generations of artists. to many of our favorite things.

if you've never seen a single Lynch film, anywhere you start from will blow your mind.

if you've seen some Lynch films but not all of them, anything new you watch will add to your appreciation of a rich and textured language.

his films are worth it.

(with the caveat that Inland Empire, while a *staggering* achievement and in my opinion one of the Top 3 greatest films ever made, must not be the *first* Lynch film you watch.)

I loved living on the same Earth as that guy. the world feels better because he was in it.

if you'll excuse me, I have some rewatching to do.